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The bygone week saw software giant Microsoft in news for reasons more than one – rumors about the forthcoming release of Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system; an Android-related lawsuit against Motorola; a major restructuring; and a new turn in the company’s much-prolonged i4i legal battle.

With Windows Phone 7 scheduled to hit the market this month, Microsoft is gearing up to push the devices based on the OS in a big way. In its October 1 announcement, the company said that Andy Lees will retain the headship of Mobile Communications Business; while Don Mattrick would continue as the head of its Interactive Entertainment Business. Microsoft also announced Kurt DelBene as president of its Office Division.

Revealing that Microsoft also filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Motorola last week over the latter’s Google Android handsets, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate VP and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, said: “The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s long-standing patent-infringement lawsuit against Canadian firm i4i took a fresh turn last week, with rivals like Google and Apple, along with some other tech-bigwigs, files “friend of the court” briefs filed with the US Supreme Court; thereby joining the other entities like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).